Category: Meat

Touch the Soil News #973 (Feature photo – Large Feedlot – public domain) In a recent press release, the United States Cattlemen’s Association says it submitted a petition for rulemaking to the USDA. The Association wants the Food Safety and Inspection Service (an arm of the USDA) to establish beef labeling requirements to inform us on the difference between beef products derived from cattle raised on the ranch and those derived from beef created in the laboratory from beef cells. While the goal of the Cattlemen’s Association is obvious – to protect their economic turf, could this backfire? Meat labeled as avoiding slaughter houses and issues surrounding the environmental footprint…

Touch the Soil News #736 (feature photo – Michel Temer – President of Brazil, CC SA 4.0)) Brazilian President Michel Temer has been found to accept millions of dollars of bribes to protect JBS SA – the world’s largest meatpacker. Temer is facing formal corruption charges for taking bribes from JBS in exchange for tax leniency and getting preferential treatment for loans at large Brazilian banks. In a deal to keep JBS executives out of jail, the company was fined $3.2 billion. JBS executives Wesley and Joesley Batista revealed on tape that they had spent over $112 million in recent years bribing over 1,900 politicians and government officials. How long…

Touch the Soil News #717 News is rocking around the world on the corruption activities of JBS SA – the world’s largest meat company. We wrote a few weeks back of the corruption scandals surrounding the bribing of Brazilian meat inspectors that led to compromised meat being shipped around the world. The JBS SA bribery activity includes millions of dollars of payoffs to Brazilian President Michel Temer, which now has Brazil in a national uproar for his resignation. In a plea-bargain arrangement, JBS SA senior executives Joesley Batista and Wesley Batista (brothers) revealed that in recent years, they have spent over $112 million USD to bribe nearly 1,900 politicians. What…

Touch the Soil News #489 We have run a few stories in the past on cultured meat – meat artificially grown in lab conditions from animal tissue cultures. Early attempts were so expensive and far from commercialization. A hamburger under earlier technology could cost tens of thousands of dollars. However, with statistics coming in every day about the overconsumption of Earth’s resources necessary to produce meat for everyone, the cultured meat paradigm continues to find interest. Hitting the news recently is an Israeli company called SuperMeat. SuperMeat is in the process of attracting venture capital in order to continue research and work towards an economically viable process. SuperMeat feels it…